Possible Solution to Frame Rate Problems in rF2

[blackcat77]

Reposted from a message by Kevin Wood in the Hardware thread because this important subject deserves it's own thread. Thanks, Kevin!

FPS Solution...at least for me!

Ok Fellas...I may have found a solution for the low FPS in RF2!!!

I was getting anywhere from 20-60FPS with vsync on...60 was only when I was alone on track and not on monaco or mills tracks (they were much worse). With vsync off, it was even lower, mainly 20-50 and choppy. All settings in game were low or off! My hardware is amd 955 be, xfx 5850, 12 gig of ram and 3 - 23" monitors in eyefinity.

I was so utterly bummed that I was combing through the RF2 beta forums for something, anything....most people were saying get the new 12.1a and try it then. I did that, but not much difference. Then I found a thread on amd forums...about ATI drivers and CCC not working. Well, my Control center stopped working mos ago, but I never got around to fixing it...well, I finally did and thank god.

Removed all ATI/AMD display drivers (several installs of previous versions [8 or 9], a couple done by steam) from all locations. Used Driver Sweeper to remove ATI display drivers. Then uninstalled driver from actual device manager. Then removed files from system/inf folder....any files with ATI or Radeon display inside the file (typically OEMxx.inf, the numbers increase as the newer versions are installed). Check all, because some were related to audio, which I need to figure out if I even need all those. Then I reinstalled the newest ATI suite for CCC and drivers...12.1a...freshly.

Long story made short, this made a WORLD of difference.

My 2 yr old system now does monaco on low settings, at well over 100 FPS. I turned it to HIGH settings and achieved 55 FPS at start of a race...60-90 FPS during close car racing and the occasional over 100 FPS on the little stretch before tunnel. Still had a few stutters/lags, but totally different from the first 2 sessions in RF2. PLUS: CCC finally works and I can check all those settings I no access to before!

If you use ATI and have made several version installs without removing the old...please give this a try.

Including instructions to this post.

Don't delete any files unless, you've looked inside at the contents to verify they were display related and check the date/timestamp.

Instructions:I was able to fix this problem today on Windows 7 x64 using the following steps to completely clear out any ATI drivers. I would do a system save before attempting this as you will be dealing with system files where a mistake would be disasterous.
1. In Control Panel/Programs&Features uninstall ATI Catalyst to completely remove all components. Reboot
2. In Control Panel/Device_Manager update the driver of the ATI Display device(s) to Standard VGA driver(s). Reboot
3. IN Windows Explorer delete any ATI folders in ProgramFiles (and ProgramFiles x86 if you're running an x64 system)
4. From guru3d.com download the Driver_Sweeper, install it and run it; check the ATI Display box and then the CLEAN button. Reboot
Try CNET for the sweeper.
5. Get rid of any old ATI installs (.inf & .pnf files in the Windows folder). These will all be files named OEMxx.inf where xx is some number assigned by Windows. But not all OEM files are ATI so you will have to search the contents of these files to identify them. I seached the Windows\Inf directory for files containing the words ATI and Radeon. This found seven .inf files left over from previous Catalyst installs over the past year. I deleted those seven .inf files plus the seven .pnf files with the same OEMxx names. If, in the past, you have installed manufacturer's graphic drivers such as ASUS, they might not contain the words ATI or Radeon so you will have to seach for another identifier such as the manufacturer's name for the product e.g. EAH5770 for an ASUS brand.
This may seem complicated but only completing this last step allowed me to install Catalyst 10.8 and have the Control Center work correctly.
From now on I will do the complete uninstall of the current ATI Catalyst before installing a new one.

[smokee]

Here is another potential fix: Framerate Stuttering - Page 3

Set:
Flush Previous Frame="1"

I have been playing around with this a lot today, not sure if this helped me since I was making a bunch of changes at once, but my stutter is gone for sure.

[smokee]

I spent a fair amount of time today trying to improve my frame rates. My issue was that my FPS counter would stay solid at 60FPS but the game was stuttering quite a bit, especially at Mills with cars on the grid. I did a whole bunch of stuff at once, so I am not sure what the magic setting was, but the performance for me is much improved. Here is what I changed, maybe it will help someone having the same issues:

Intel Core2 Duo, E6600 2.4GHz
4gb RAM
Nvidia GT9800 w/ 512MB

Machine changes:
Overclocked the FSB to 320MHz, bringing my CPU to 2.88GHz
Nvidia control panel, 3D settings: Maximum pre-rendered frames = 0, most other settings at "application controlled"

rFactor settings:
1680 x 1050, 32bit
VSync on
AA x 4
All details set to low except player detail and textures = meduim
AF x 4
Shadows and shadow blur = off
Steering wheel off (more of a preference, I don't like seeing 2 steering wheels)
Mirror on
Rain on
16 cars in view

.plr file:
Max Framerate="60.00000"
Flush Previous Frame="1"
Max Headlights="0"
Headlights On Cars="0"


If I were to guess, I think my performance gain was either turning shadows off, or flush previous frame, plus the big pump in CPU and FSB speeds. With these settings I am running a solid 60fps without stutter, until the rain comes and that bumps me down to 30FPS with a full grid of cars at Miller (where I was having the most issues).

[smokee]

Another potential stutter fix related to wheel drivers not being able to keep up with FFB updates

1) Update wheel drivers
2) controller.ini - set "Skip updates" to a positive value

Software is jerky, falls out of realtime, CPU is 100%

[kevinb]

I found this over at Rd - Help for frame rates and G25/27 FFB oscillation fix,
rF2 Fixes and Adjustments List | RaceDepartment Forums

[corsa]

If you're an ATI user and are using 11.12, for sure update to 12.1a like advised in the first post. I did that last night and am seeing another 20-40% increase in FPS.

Reading around, it seems like 11.12 added features to 11.11, but is NOT performance optimized... 12.1a combines the features of 11.12 AND the optimization that was in 11.11.

[Patrick Spence]

Ya, I just upgraded to the new ATI beta drivers the other night and noticed a good increase in FPS.

[baristabrian]

If you're an ATI user and are using 11.12, for sure update to 12.1a like advised in the first post. I did that last night and am seeing another 20-40% increase in FPS.

Reading around, it seems like 11.12 added features to 11.11, but is NOT performance optimized... 12.1a combines the features of 11.12 AND the optimization that was in 11.11.

Eric, when I went to AMD's site to grab that driver it appears it is not compatible with the 4870's only 5000 series and up.

[corsa]

Eric, when I went to AMD's site to grab that driver it appears it is not compatible with the 4870's only 5000 series and up.

Yes, it looks like they are only for 5000+. I wonder if AMD will add support when the drivers get out of beta or if they are dropping support for those cards from v. 12 on up?

[baristabrian]

Yes, it looks like they are only for 5000+. I wonder if AMD will add support when the drivers get out of beta or if they are dropping support for those cards from v. 12 on up?

Very good question. My $$$ is on "no"